Quake Champions Release Date, Trailer, News, and More

Quake Champions is the latest installment in the classic FPS series. This title appears to be a follow-up to the infamous Quake III: Arena as it attempts to revive the arena shooter genre that classic game helped to popularize. Bethesda is promising a pure Arena-style shooter experience with a special emphasis on interesting characters and creating an equal playing field for all levels of fraggers.

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From the trailers released thus far, it is clear that this new Quake is focused on providing the same brand of lightning-fueled rapid chaos that made Arena one of the most popular games of its generation. While Bethesda’s presentation suggests that the team will be taking cues from the open, character-driven style of Overwatch, gameplay footage showcases an arena battleground that is unmistakably worthy of the Quake name.

Here’s everything else we know:

Quake Champions Release Date

Quake Champions doesn’t have a release date as of yet.

Speaking with GameSpot, studio director Tim Willits revealed that id hasn’t ruled out a console release for Quake Champions, which is currently only slated for PC. Said Willits, “It’s a PC game. No excuses. No limitations. We’re going to focus on one platform,” but he added that he “love[s] [his] console fans. “We’re not totally shutting the door on consoles.”

Willits teased the game won’t officially launch until after it’s gone through a long beta period. Willits clarified, “It’s going to come out after a really, really long closed beta. I’m telling people now, it’s going to be a long beta.”

Quake Champions Trailer

Bethesda revealed at E3 2017 that Wolfenstein protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz will join the Quake Champions‘ roster. The studio also announced that they plan to host a $1 million Quake World Championship tournament at QuakeCon starting on August 26th.

You can check out all the new footage from Quake Champions – including previews of some of the game’s new maps – via the game’s latest trailer:

Just in case you weren’t convinced that Quake Champions will provide the same essential Quake multiplayer experience you know and love, Bethesda has released what they call a raw gameplay trailer which simply shows player footage from a match in progress. The speed is intoxicating.

Video of Quake Champions – Raw Gameplay Trailer

Here’s the first gameplay trailer:

Video of Quake Champions – Debut Gameplay Trailer

Bethesda uploaded a video to their YouTube page in which Studio Director Tim Willits breaks down the design process of Quake Champions and explains how the game is both a classic Quake shooter and an attempt to modernize some of the title’s trademark elements by incorporating some recent advancements in the genre. Of particular note are the heroes and skills he reveals that give us a better idea of how Quake Champions‘ characters will differ from one another.

Take a look:

Video of Quake Champions – Quake Returns!

Check out the game’s first trailer below:

Video of Quake Champions: E3 2016 Reveal Trailer

Quake Champions Details

Quake Champions will be a free-to-play game.

Well…kind of.

“At its core, it’s a free-to-play game,” says Willits, “with the option to buy the Champion Pack and just get in and play with all the Champions. There are a number of Quake players that just want to play their Quake, right? And they are familiar with the business model of our previous games, and they are totally fine. ‘I want to buy the game. I want to start playing. I want to have access to all the Champions.’”

What that means is that players who purchase the game will gain access to all of Quake Champions‘ characters while those free-to-play players will be able to use in-game currency to gain access to new Champions for a limited period of time. It’s not clear how long you will be able to access purchased Champions via the latter method, but Willits did say that he doesn’t want to use the word “rent” in regards to the nature of the transaction.

Players on both sides will have the chance to use in-game currency on other unlockables such as rune challenges and skins. Additionally, free-to-play and paid players will compete in the same brackets on the same maps using the same weapons. At this time, it appears the only potentially meaningful gameplay concept that requires currency are the characters themselves.